Oxford House

Oxford House is a timber-framed building, re-clad in red brick with a Flemish bond and a roof of handmade red plain tiles, located on the north side of High Street, Earls Colne. The building dates back to the 14th century, with significant alterations in the late 15th century and the late 18th century, followed by further changes in the early 19th century. It originally comprised a 2-bay aisled hall facing south. A 4-bay extension was added in the 16th century, alongside a stack in the rear aisle. A crosswing was built to the right, with its roof later rebuilt to align with the main range. The front aisle is no longer present.

The building has two storeys. The ground floor features a modern double shopfront with a central door (number 17). A late 19th-century shopfront has been converted into a sash window with projecting, fluted jambs and a flat canopy featuring an egg-and-dart frieze, all constructed in red brick. Four 19th-century sash windows with marginal lights are located on the first floor. A brick pilaster separates the shop from a smaller domestic facade to the right, which features a 20th-century door with a flat canopy and moulded architrave, and a plain door with a fanlight leading to a through-passage.

The fragmentary remains of the aisled hall’s timber frame reveal twin service doors at the right end, bench fixings at the left end, and a heavily smoke-blackened crownpost roof with down bracing to the tiebeams. A carved and crenellated mantel beam is present in front of the rear stack. A moulded and carved bridging beam bears a running vine design and the molet emblem of the de Veres, Earls of Oxford. The roof also includes moulded joists of horizontal section. Documentary evidence indicates the house was owned by the Leffingwell family in 1468, 1592 and 1598.